History 1130 Essay: US Cold War Policy and Non-Aligned Movement

This document presents two essays addressing key historical events and concepts. The first essay examines George Kennan's views on the Soviet Union's aims and the US policy of containment during the Cold War. It analyzes Kennan's perspective on how containment could counter Soviet expansion. The second essay focuses on the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and its challenges to US Cold War policies. It explores Sukarno's opening speech at the Bandung Conference and how his ideas challenged US strategies of containment, military confrontation, and alliance-building. Both essays fulfill the specific requirements outlined in the assignment brief, including thesis statements, supporting points, and proper formatting.

Running head: HISTORY ESSAYS
History Essays
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1HISTORY ESSAYS
Response to Essay 1
In the twentieth century, the world experienced two of the most devastating wars in the
course of human history. The Second World War was quite destructive in nature as it was a fight
which engaged nearly all of the nation states around the world (Sempa 2018). The end of the
War brought about significant and vital changes in the world by the way of certain established
ideology. This resulted in the start of a Cold War which signified a tussle between two separate
ideologies. The Cold War nearly pushed the world to the brink of another war but certain
measures were taken not to repeat the horrors of the two World Wars (Nash 2016). This essay
tries to understand how the United States of America used its policy of containment in order to
counteract the socialist ideology of the Soviet Union (T).
(a) George Kennan was one of the most important figure in the field of diplomat. He was
posted within the territory of the Soviet Union on behalf of the United States of America. This is
significant because the Cold War mainly occurred between the United States of America and the
Soviet Union (Felix 2017). (E.) While the United States believed in the policy of capitalism, the
Soviet Union adhered to the policy of socialism. (A) This strict adherence to the two conflicting
ideologies posed a serious threat to the population of the two countries. In this regard, the work
of George Kennan is quite significant as he tried to understand the situation between both the
countries so as to diffuse the existing conflicts between them.
(b) According to him, the aim of the Soviet Union was to spread its policy of socialism to
the other parts of the world. (E) This would enable the Soviet Union to find a common market
with which they can effectively conduct business with (Powell 2017). (A) The methods that
would be utilized by the Soviet Union to pursue its aim and objectives is that of destroying the
capitalistic ideals of the United States of America. This is considered to be important for the

2HISTORY ESSAYS
Soviet Union since if the opposite ideology is diminished to a considerable extent, it would
facilitate the stronger presence of the communist ideology.
© The counter to this objective of the Soviet Union occurred in the form of policy of
containment. This policy was advocated by the United States of America. (E) The leaders of the
United States was of the idea that if they could successfully contain the spread of the communist
ideology to the different parts of the world, then it would facilitate the propagation of the
capitalist ideology (Powell 2017). (A) This was needed as capitalism would usher in a market
structure based n competitiveness and merit.
In conclusion, it is observed that the policy of containment as advocated by the United
States of America would be successful in countering the objectives of the Soviet Union, as stated
by George Kennan. He had a strong idea about the motives and the objectives of the state leaders
of the two countries and knew about the capability of the two countries.

3HISTORY ESSAYS
Response to Essay 2
The Non Aligned Movement gained considerable importance in the second half off the
twentieth century. This Movement emerged as a reaction to the horrors of the Second World War
where the conflict between the powerful nation sates of the world pulled even the colonial
countries in to the war (Nartey and Ernanda 2019). The Non Aligned Movement was an attempt
by such colonial countries who had recently gained their independence, to prevent themselves
from being engaged in the power struggle amongst the powerful nation states of the globe. This
essay tries to understand the objective of the Non Aligned Movement in the face of the European
powers (T).
(a) President Sukarno of Indonesia gave an opening speech in the Bandung Conference in
the year of 1955 (Schwarz 2018). (E) According to him, the entire twentieth century was quite
dynamic in nature. (A) The state leaders during this time had to take a lot of important decisions
which changed the geographical state of the entire world. The different political motives of the
human race invited the implementation of morals and ethics.
(b) However, according to Sukarno, in the twentieth century, the well-being of the human
kind was considered to be a secondary importance. This time period was characterized by the
state of fear. (E) There was the fear that the peace that was won at extreme cost in the form of the
two World Wars, would be taken away due to the hateful activities of the human race (Black m
2017). Sukarno pointed to the activities of the United States of America and the Soviet Union in
this speech. (A) He believed that the power motives of these two nation states have the potential
to threat world peace and security. In this respect, he wanted the newly independent states of the
world to remain nonaligned to either of the two ideologies of the powerful nation states. He

4HISTORY ESSAYS
believed that the policy of containment as followed by the United States of America have the
power to include the third world nation states in the conflict.
(c) As a consequence of the power motives of the two Blocs, Sukarno opined that such
vulnerable nation states of the world should try to avoid forming any alliances with the nation
states if Europe (Acharya 2016). (E) This would help the concerned states to focus on the
building of their own security and national interest. (A) In this respect, the ideas as propounded
by the President of Indonesia, Sukarno, was found to be challenging to the policies of
containment of the United States and the subsequent military confrontation with the Soviet
Union.
In conclusion it is observed that the main objective of the Non Aligned Movement was
the protection of the Third World countries who were, for so long, under the colonial rule of the
imperial masters of the Western Hemisphere. Sukarno wanted the improvement of these
countries without being pulled in to the power struggle of the powerful nation states.

5HISTORY ESSAYS
References:
Acharya, A., 2016. Studying the Bandung conference from a Global IR perspective. Australian
Journal of International Affairs, 70(4), pp.342-357.
Black, P., 2017. The Speed of Decolonization: Travel, Modernization, and the 1955 Bandung
Conference. In Postcolonial Justice (pp. 261-276). Brill Rodopi.
Felix, D., 2017. Kennan and the Cold War: An Unauthorized Biography. Routledge.
Nartey, M. and Ernanda, 2019. Formulating emancipatory discourses and reconstructing
resistance: a positive discourse analysis of Sukarno’s speech at the first Afro-Asian
conference. Critical Discourse Studies, pp.1-17.
Nash, A.L., 2016. A Contemporary long telegram: Explaining Russian Behavior. US Army
School for Advanced Military Studies Fort Leavenworth United States.
Powell, B., 2017. The Origins of George F. Kennan’s Theory of Containment: Stalin’s Russia
and the Failure of US Foreign Policy (Doctoral dissertation).
Schwarz, A., 2018. A nation in waiting: Indonesia's search for stability. Routledge.
Sempa, F.P., 2018. George F. Kennan and the Geopolitics of Containment. In Competition
Forum (Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 179-183). American Society for Competitiveness.